For Peyton Manning last week, there was no time to waste. Not even the stretching period could go by without some sort of work, as Manning and his offensive teammates desperately try to fix what has ailed them through the first three weeks. Manning twisted his body to the left so he could look at receiver Demaryius Thomas. While stretching his hips and torso, Manning’s mouth and hands mimicked passing routes for Thomas.

Will the extra minutes of communication pay off in the first quarter of today’s game against Oakland?

The Broncos certainly hope so.

Through three games, Denver has yet to score a first-quarter touchdown. And in the past two games, the Broncos have dug deep early holes and needed furious comebacks to make games against Atlanta and Houston competitive in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t think I know enough yet to call something a pattern. In the first and third quarters, we’re not scoring enough points,” Manning said. “We’re all looking at that. Seeing what it is that we can do as players. The coaches are looking at it. We’d sort of like to find the answer.”

Fans and armchair quarterbacks would sort of like that too, as the slow starts have been an all-too-familiar trend carried over from 2011, when the Broncos made their playoff push through comeback after comeback led by Tim Tebow.

It appears that now, with Manning, the Broncos — from offensive coordinator Mike McCoy to Manning and the other skill players — are still searching for the right balance of aggressiveness and, well, balance.

Against Pittsburgh in the season opener, the Broncos were conservative early; against Atlanta in Game 2, they were overly aggressive. Against Houston last week, a promising drive stalled in the red zone, and what could have been a 9-0 lead — a two-score lead — was a fragile 5-0 advantage Houston soon erased.

“We moved the ball plenty of times, but for one reason or another, we didn’t convert a third down, we made a mistake somewhere, or in the red area, we didn’t punch it in. We didn’t convert on third down also down there,” McCoy said. “We’re kicking too many field goals early in games. We’ve got to do a better job coming out in the second half and getting going early on.”

As McCoy notes, the problem isn’t just the first quarter. The Broncos have been better in the second quarter than the first, and markedly better in the fourth quarter than the third.

The Broncos have averaged less than 29 net offensive yards across their three third quarters. Sure, against Pittsburgh, the Broncos only got one 36-second possession — but that was perhaps the most exciting drive of the young season, as Thomas raced through and past Pittsburgh’s defense for a 71-yard touchdown.

Through three quarters, the Broncos are averaging 205 net yards, including penalty yardage, compared with an average of just over 157 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

“We’re all trying to figure that out right now. Peyton is right: No one really has the answer,” tight end Joel Dreessen said. “We have to find a way to work through that. We have to find a way.”

Manning said failure to develop offensive consistency is likely tied to his relative newness to the team, and McCoy’s offense, as well as the challenge of working with a mostly new group of wide receivers and tight ends. It should not be surprising that last week, as Manning tried to lead a comeback against Houston, the receivers he turned to most in the fourth quarter were Brandon Stokley and Jacob Tamme, two former Colts teammates. A week before that, in Atlanta, Manning relied on veteran running back Willis McGahee — a new teammate, sure, but a steady, reliable option.

“I’m still learning some things about myself, about our team. I think that’s kind of what I’ve said all along,” Manning said. “It’s part of the process as you are learning some things. It’d be nice to win while you’re learning.”

Both coaches and players agree that what is troubling about the slow starts is how it challenges the Broncos’ defense.

There, the team’s best players are on the edges, pass rushers Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller and cornerback Champ Bailey. Playing from behind puts those three stars into retreat mode instead of attack mode.

Scoring early — and, of course, often — was the top topic at Dove Valley this past week, from the media wondering when and how it would happen, and inside of meeting rooms and on the practice field as players and coaches tried to figure it out.

“It’s like when people say, ‘Well, they have to get the lead.’ I’ve never been told to not get the lead, if that makes any sense,” Manning said. “Your job is to try to win the game, but I do think (getting a lead will happen) if we find a way to build off of each other a little bit more offensively and defensively and play well at the same time.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.